Experts Offer Oral Health Tips After Worrying Survey Results
Dental experts have offered oral health tips following the publication of worrying survey results.
Research shows that only 40 per cent of UK adults brush their teeth properly everyday and more than 36,000 children under the age of 16 years old go to hospital to have their teeth extracted as a result of decay every year. The results of the studies are alarming, especially as we live in an age where we have access to cutting-edge technology, advanced dental care and fluoridated water.
Karen Coates, dental adviser at the British Dental Health Foundation, said that it is really important that people follow recommendations about teeth cleaning to reduce their risk of gum disease and tooth decay. Surveys sow that most adults only brush their teeth for 40 seconds each time, which is much shorter than the recommended time of 2 minutes. Coates advised using an electric toothbrush, as electric toothbrushes have been proven to remove more plaque than manual toothbrushes; she also recommended buying a toothbrush with a timer to ensure that you brush for the recommended time.
Coates said that the way you brush is also really important; she said that most people assume that the harder they brush, the better and this is not the case, as brushing firmly can damage the protective tooth enamel.
When it comes to buying toothpaste, Coates said that there was little difference between cheap toothpaste and premium brands, provided that the level of fluoride is the same; studies also show that whitening toothpaste is ineffective because the legal content of whitening agent in the products is too low to make a noticeable difference to the shade of the teeth.
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